WTL 2023 Summer - Vecka 7 Recap/Vecka 8 Preview

Återutgiven av Platon

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av: Wax

After a relatively uneventful Week 7 that saw the rankings stay completely unchanged, we're in store for a treat in Week 8. While I didn't go back and check the schedule for every season, this is easily one of the most entertaining regular season weeks in WTL history.

To start, we have a massive clash between two championship contenders in DKZ and ONSYDE, with Maru vs Oliveira being the opening bout. Then, PSISTORM will fight for their playoff lives vs TL, with new signee Spirit finally eligible to play. There's also a solid mid-table battle between Shopify and ABYDOS, with both teams looking to improve their playoff seeding.

On top of that, the matches that are less interesting on paper have some intriguing twists when you take a closer look. BASILISK might not be guaranteed to stomp Starlight Twinkle, RotterdaM will be making his WTL debut in that match. Also, iG vs Berserker is the darkly humorous 'who's finishing in last place?' match, which should be of great interest to the WTL's most devoted fans.

Anmärkning om schemaläggning: This week's games will be played on June 9th, June 12, and June 13th.

Veck 7 Sammanfattning

Topp 7-lag kvalificerar sig till slutspelet.
De två nedersta lagen måste kvalificera sig om.
Poäng tilldelas enligt följande:
3 poäng för en seger i en serie som inte kräver en essmatch
2 poäng för en seger i en serie som kräver ess-match
1 poäng för en förlust i en serie som kräver ess-match
0 poäng för en förlust i en serie som inte kräver ess-match
Invictus Gaming 1 - 5 BASILISK
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XY bestämde sig för att avstå från ost och gå på Serral i hedervärda makrospel™ för att starta serien, och hans tapperhet belönades med en ensidig 0-2 förlust.

BreakingGG försökte också spela Reynor direkt i sitt första spel, men blev förutsägbart utkämpad i mörtkrigen. Han provade sedan en Nydus-ost i match två, men Reynor avvisade den för att vinna 2-0 och låsa in tre poäng för BASILISK.

MacSed managed to salvage a map for Invictus against Trigger, taking the first game of their series by defending his fast expansion against Trigger's one-base all-in. Trigger took a map for himself to end the series, beating MacSed in a mid-game brawl between Gateway armies.

Platinum Heroes 2 - 4 ABYDOS
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Mondo kom in i matchen med ett rekord på 0-4 och såg ut att kunna vara den svaga länken som kostade ABYDOS poäng mot en svagare Platinum Heroes-sida. Men Mondo drog på sig den här gången och fick sin första kartvinst för säsongen med 1-1 mot ShaDoWn.

Mondo got his win immediately, beating ShaDoWn on NeoHumanity with mass Hydra-Ling-Bane before his opponent had sufficient splash damage. Game two followed a peculiar pattern, with Mondo starting off with a Speedling cheese but still somehow finding himself in a late-game standoff fifteen minutes later. Ultimately, Mondo had to tap out to ShaDoWn's golden armada, as he couldn't transition out of his Lurker-based force in time.

Creator then took a 2-0 over Goblin to put his team on match point. Game one was a dizzying Blink-Stalker duel, with both players constantly putting themselves in weird, semi-basetrade situations. Creator was just a bit faster and more decisive with his movements, which gave him the victory in the last of these exchanges. Creator closed out with defense in game two, holding his fast expansion against Goblin's one base Stalker all-in.

NightMare finished the job for ABYDOS by taking a win against DnS on the very next map. The two played an action-packed game on Gresvan, where DnS's proxy-Robo led to much early skirmishing. NightMare came out ahead in those trades (Disruptors!), and was able to compound his lead and force the GG. DnS got himself a tie in the final game, successfully defending against a Cannon + proxy Gateway rush.

Team Liquid 5 - 1 Berserker eSport
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Ess-spelaren Clem tog en poängposition för Liquid och gjorde 2-0 mot Spatz för att börja. Spel ett var över för Spatz inom de första minuterna, eftersom han förlorade 10 sonder till en enda Hellion medan han försökte med några misslyckade Adept-trakasserier. Spatz dubblade genom att satsa på proxy-Gateway-trakasserier i match två, men Clem ryckte på axlarna för att ta 2-0.

SKillous satte sitt lag på gränsen till seger mot DIMAGA, och tog ett spel i deras serie med Glaive-Adepts och en uppföljande Zealot-attack. Den gamla skolan Zerg lyckades dock hålla sitt lag vid liv genom att ta spel två, tanka Psi Storms med ansiktet för att slå SKillous i sann svärmstil.

It seemed like Papi had a chance to continue the comeback against MaNa, as he took the lead in game one after holding off MaNa's proxy-Robo cheese. However, he dealt with MaNa's follow-up Immortal drop very poorly, which allowed MaNa to win with an unusual, one-base, two-Robo all-in. With all three points in hand, MaNa took a final win for the road to keep Liquid at #3 in the standings with a +17 map differential.

ONSYDE Gaming 4 - 2 瘦死骆驼 (Svältande kameler)
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Obs: Den faktiska matchordningen för den här serien skilde sig från den schemalagda matchordningen som visas ovan.
Medan Ryung och TooDming ursprungligen var schemalagda att spela i den tredje matchen i serien, såg några schemaläggningsjusteringar att de två flyttades till toppen av sändningen. Ryung kom tidigt framåt på båda kartorna med Banshee-trakasserier, som han följde upp med Marine-Tank i spel ett, och battle-mech i spel två för att ta 2-0.

In a surprising twist, Ryung's 2-0 actually ended up being quite important for ONSYDE as Maru gave up his first map loss of his season against Firefly. The plucky Protoss stole a map off of Maru in an extremely close basetrade, where his Blink-Stalkers raced Maru's 3-Barracks Marine-Marauder in a destruction derby. While the finish was tight, the lack of Medivacs helped Firefly's Blink-Stalkers barely prevail in the end. Maru got his tying point very quickly in game two, going for a series of proxy-Starport Hellion/Mine drops that completely ravaged Firefly's economy.

Solar stängde serien mot Cyan och höll tillbaka Oracle-Stalker-attacker innan han motattackade med Roach-Ravager för att ta spel ett. Cyan tog den sista kartan med bra Glaive-Adept-spel, men det var bara en moralisk seger eftersom ONSYDE redan hade säkrat hela tre poäng.

Starlight Twinkle 1 - 5 Dragon KaiZi Gaming
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Oliveira got his team off to a strong start with a 2-0 over Cham. Game one was a fairly one-sided beatdown, with Oliveira's bio mopping up Cham's Roach-Ravager army. The second game got a bit hectic after Cham forced a basetrade, but the superior firepower of Oliveira's bio won out once more.

herO gjorde snabbt 3-0 för sitt lag mot Nice, med hans proxy-Stargate Oracle som fångade Nice helt oväntat och orsakade stor skada. Nice tog en poäng tillbaka på samma sätt som hans snabba Dark Templar-teknik överraskade herO.

Dark låste sig i segerserien mot ReWhite och slog sönder Protoss i spel ett med massiva Mutalisks. Han sprang sedan upp poängen på den sista kartan och vann snabbt med en Nydus-Queen-Ling all-in.

Shopify Rebellion 4 - 2 PSISTORM Gaming
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Shopify ace ByuN got his team going by taking down Gerald on NeoHumanity in game one, winning with heavy 3-Barracks pressure while holding off proxy-Oracles. Gerald survived for longer in game two, but ultimately couldn't keep up with ByuN's multi-directional bio attacks and surrendered another GG.

SpeCial started his match against Lambo by channeling ByuN, opening with 2-Barracks and transitioning into non-stop Marine pressure. However, Lambo was held strong on defense, and eventually overpowered SpeCial with his superior tech and economy. SpeCial attempted to go for his signature BC-into-mech in game two, but Lambo had it scouted every step of the way. After defending against harassment and establishing a powerful economy, Lambo ruthlessly busted through SpeCial's defenses before they could be fully entrenched.

That left MaxPax to pick up a rather empty 2-0 victory against Scarlett to finish the day, wielding the 'herO style' Stalker-Oracle strategy expertly in both games. Still, if PSISTORM somehow pulls off a late-season run to make the playoffs, these map points may actually end up mattering.

Veckovis MVP: SR.Lambo

Det var gott om 2-0 resultat i vecka 7, men nästan alla var mellan en klar favorit och en tung underdog. Bara en 2-0-vinnare tog sin seger i en match som jag ansåg vara lite utmanande: Lambo mot Special. Visserligen var Lambo en måttlig favorit på väg in i matchen – jag valde till och med att han vann med 2-0. Men med avsaknaden av några mer imponerande 2-0 under veckan, var jag tvungen att nicka till Lambo.

I did briefly consider giving Firefly the award for stealing a 1-1 against Maru, but I'm pretty reluctant to pick 1-1's over 2-0's. Also, the Camels ended up earning 0 points from the match, and it was hard for me to reward what was ultimately just a moral victory.

Veckans MVP:s:

Vecka 7: SR.Lambo
Vecka 6: DKZ.herO
Vecka 5: Liquid`Clem
Vecka 4. PH.DnS
Vecka 3: Alla på SSLT/瘦死骆驼/Starving Camels
Vecka 2: ABYDOS.Cure
Vecka 1: BASILISK.Serral

Förhandsvisning: ordinarie säsong vecka 8

Fredag 09 juni 12:00 GMT (GMT + 00: 00) Matcher

ONSYDE Gaming vs Dragon KaiZi Gaming

ONSYDE har spelat en fast spelarordning av Maru-Solar-Ryung varje vecka (förutom den ena veckan som Crank spelade), så du måste undra vad DKZ tänkte på genom att skicka ut Oliveira för att möta Maru. Alla resultat sedan mars bekräftade vad de flesta redan trodde om IEM Katowice: det var livets mirakellopp för Oliveira. Ändå måste det finnas en anledning för DKZ och Oliveira att välja den här matchen – kanske tror de att världsmästaren fortfarande har ett psykologiskt försprång mot 6SL-vinnaren.

Eftersom jag tror att Maru vinner med 2-0 borde Solar och herO vara seriens riktiga svingmatch. Solar har konsekvent varit en av de bästa onlinespelarna 2023, medan herO har spelat väldigt bra de senaste veckorna efter en kort formsänkning. Jag tror att 1-1 är det mest sannolika resultatet i en sammandrabbning mellan två spelare som absolut trivs i WTL-miljön.

The final match favors DKZ quite heavily, with Dark playing his best match-up against Ryung's clear worst. My 'bold' prediction here is that Ryung is going to all-out cheese against Dark, and whether or not he successfully hides his proxies will decide if he can steal a map.

Ultimately, I think a 3-3 tie is the most likely result in the initial three series, which would send us to a very exciting ace match. Both Maru vs herO and Maru vs Dark have the potential to be very entertaining, especially with Gresvan being pre-set as the ace map. I'm going to give Maru the slightest edge in a BO1, out of deference to his 6SL title and 13-1 WTL record.

Förutsägelse: ONSYDE Gaming 4 - 3 Dragon KaiZi Gaming

Team Liquid vs PSISTORM Gaming

Following their loss to Shopify last week, PSISTORM are now five points below the playoff cutoff with matches against TL, ONSYDE, SSLT, and Berserker remaining. You don't have to go through all the match combinations to realize that this is a MUST WIN match if PSISTORM is to have any hope of making the playoffs at all.

Lyckligtvis för PSISTORM är den nya signaturen Spirit äntligen berättigad att spela. Den polske Terran spelar sin karriärs bästa StarCraft II 2023, och det visades också i WTL där han satte ett rekord på 8-3 innan han hamnade i tillfällig överföringsstas.

The transfer means Spirit is actually playing SKillous for the second time this season, with the two players fighting to a 1-1 draw during the SLT vs TL match. I don't think Spirit can settle for that result this time—he needs a 2-0 for PSISTORM to feel good about their chances.

The second match is a real puzzler, with Namshar making his season debut against Elazer. Gerald and SpeCial might not be in great form, but I have to think there were some outside-the-game circumstances for PSISTORM to reach so deep into their bench. The randomness of ZvZ might give Namshar a chance of stealing a 1-1, but a 2-0 Elazer win is the outcome I'm picking.

MaxPax vs Clem is a fantastic match to potentially end this series, with Europe's best Terran going up against its best Protoss. MaxPax has had a slight edge against Clem in head-to-head matches as of late, but the Aligulac.com odds still see them as being close to even. While I'd love to see this extend into an ace match and be decided in a pseudo-BO3, I think Liquid will be able to end things earlier with a 4-2 victory.

Förutsägelse: Team Liquid 4 - 2 PSISTORM Gaming

Schemaändring: Den andra speldagen är den 9 juni
Fredag 09 juni 12:00 GMT (GMT + 00: 00) Matcher

Shopify Rebellion vs ABYDOS

ABYDOS är fortfarande ett av de mest förvirrande lagen i WTL, i besittning av en topp fyra line-up på full styrka men vägrar helt enkelt att någonsin distribuera den. Medan Mondo går tillbaka till bänken i stället för DRG, markerar detta den tredje raka veckan där essspelaren Cure inte spelar. Och fortfarande har de en bra chans att ta några poäng från Shopify.

Lambo versus DRG is basically a dead even match in my eyes, and I'll predict a 1-1 while knowing it could easily swing 2-0 either way. If ABYDOS somehow gets some points out of this match, it will be because DRG rolled high and got the 2-0 on the day.

The ByuN vs. NightMare match-up is the key advantage Shopify have, with TvP monster ByuN being heavily favored to win in a 2-0. NightMare is cunning enough to occasionally steal maps off stronger players in PvZ, but I just can't see him pulling it off in PvT.

Harstem vs Creator is the PvP mirror image of Lambo versus DRG, where I arrive at a 1-1 prediction as a middle ground amid the chaos. In the end, I'm predicting Shopify to win off the strength of ByuN in TvP, but the two mirrors could easily complicate things.

Förutsägelse: Shopify Rebellion 4 - 2 ABYDOS

Starlight Twinkle vs BASILISK

When ONSYDE Gaming's Crank made his WTL debut, he did it in the safest way possible against the winless Berserker eSports. RotterdaM and BASILISK are being a bit more daring, deploying the caster/captain/Protoss against the 2W-5L Starlight Twinkle.

While Solar and Maru had to rescue ONSYDE from Crank's 0-2 start, RotterdaM might be able to hold his own here. Unlike Crank, he's actually played some official tournament matches this year, and he managed to go 1-2 against Creator, 1-1 against goblin, and 1-2 against MaxPax in PvP. While he's definitely the underdog against Nice, a 1-1 tie isn't out of the question.

Of course, you expect Reynor and Serral to clean up with 2-0's if RotterdaM stumbles out the gates. However, you have to remember that Reynor hasn't completely beat the 50/50 allegations yet, and a ZvZ against Cham could be surprisingly tricky. I can definitely envision a scenario where Rotti goes 0-2 to start and Reynor goes 1-1 against Cham, costing BASILISK a point.

Prognos: Starlight Twinkle 2 - 4 BASILISK

Tisdag 13 juni 12:00 GMT (GMT + 00:00) Matcher

Invictus Gaming vs Berserker eSports

This is the highlight match of the season for a particularly perverse group of fans, as it's very likely to decide who suffers the ignominy of finishing in last place.

Three of the players involved in this match have zero map wins so far: Mixu (0-6), Spatz (0-10), and BreakingGG (0-12). Surely (hopefully), they'll all get a win on the board here?

In what might seem like a surprise, I'm going to give Berserker the slight edge due to DIMAGA. Sure, his 2-6 record is worse than iG ace MacSed (5-9), but I've been impressed by the quality of his play in straight-up macro games against strong players.

Prognos: Invictus Gaming 3 - 4 Berserker eSports

Platinum Heroes vs 瘦死骆驼 (Starving Camels)

The Camels currently stand at #6 in the rankings due to hugely overperforming against the stronger teams in the WTL—this week we'll see if they get the job done against an opponent they 'should' beat.

This match is awfully hard to predict, largely because of the pair of PvP's that start things off. DnS vs. Cyan and goblin vs. Firefly are essentially coin flips, though perhaps I'd give Firefly a slight edge purely based on vibes (the dude is just really good in WTL, man).

Jag vill säga att ShaDoWn vs TooDming är matchen där Platinum Heroes har en klar fördel, men TooDming har en oförklarligt bra WTL-säsong med ett rekord på 5-5. Sammantaget, även om jag gillar Heroes lite bättre på pappret, måste jag stå på kamelernas sida på grund av deras omöjliga och obegripliga WTL-buff.

Prognos: Platinum Heroes 3 - 4 瘦死骆驼 (Svältande kameler)